You're listening to Radio Lab from Public Radio, W-N-Y-C-N-Y-C-N-P-R.

Hello.

Hello.

Hello.

Today I want to start the show by telling you about a guy, well, a very, very, very important man, probably one of the most

important guys in...

In guide them.

Yeah.

Okay, tell me the correct pronunciation on...

I'm not Dutch.

Leukhun.

The way that you should say is something like Leavenhook.

And here, thankfully, to help with our pronunciation and to fill in the details is Professor Matthew Cobb. I'm the program director for zoology at the University of Manchester. Leavenhope. And I've written a book about this called Generation, the 17th century scientists who unraveled the secrets of sex, life, and growth. Okay, so Leavenhoke. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. So what did he do? He was a draper.

A draper? Yeah, so he just sold cloth. Oh. He had no scientific training whatsoever. He was

interested in microscopes. Why would a draper be interested in microscopes? It was his hobby. It's what he

did. He made these microscopes. And he was actually really good. That's right. Although you have to keep in mind that microscopes at that point in time,

talking 1670s here, it's not exactly how we think of them now.

Back then, they were just... Tiny balls of glass.

And that's it. And science itself was just a wee little baby.

You've got to just really put yourself back.

Okay, there was Lavin Hook doing really well with these microscopes.

And pretty soon, scientists all over the place were asking you to look at stuff.

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